LAWRENCE - The Hamilton West boys' basketball team had a record that said it was a winning team but still looked for a quality victory to verify that fact.

The Hornets got it Saturday when they grinded out a 60-54 decision at Lawrence in an extremely physical game.

Lawrence (4-5), the defending Central Jersey Group III champ, entered having won four of five, while Hamilton (7-2) came in losers of two out of three to West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Ewing.

West needed a win like this to show it could hang with the big boys, and it got it by matching the Cards' bruising play underneath and coming up with key plays when necessary.

'That's a big-time win,' Hamilton head coach Jayson Malloy said. 'Our record's good, we've beaten good teams, but to come into this place and beat the defending champs in Central Jersey (Group III), this is a big-time win for our team. I couldn't be more proud of them.'

Lawrence hurt itself in the second half with two technical fouls. The second came early in the fourth quarter after Lawrence scored four straight to tie the game at 42.

Dan Garcia made two foul shots and Freddie Simmons hit a jumper to make it a four-point possession, and Simmons scored again to put Hamilton up, 48-42. Lawrence would get within 2, but Hamilton held the lead for the remainder of the game.

'You gotta stay composed,' Lawrence head coach Jeff Molinelli said. 'It was a physical game, it was physical both ways. Two times we get the lead or tie it, we get two technicals and put them right back in the lead with the ball. It definitely hurt us.'

The Hornets got 22 points from Tyleer Wrenn after he sat most of the first quarter with two fouls. Garcia and Simmons scored 11 each and were both big at crunch time, while Malik Snead had some important rebounds and defensive plays in the fourth quarter.

Jordan Glover led Lawrence with 21 and Myles Mitchell-White had 11, but Lawrence again hurt itself from the line by hitting only 13 of 23 free throws.

With Hamilton trailing, 14-8, after one quarter, Wrenn exploded for 13 in the second - with three 3-pointers - as the Hornets took a 29-23 lead.

'The key was Tyleer,' Malloy said. 'He was able to play the whole second quarter and stay as aggressive as he could and he played smart.'

Lawrence scored 12 straight to start the second half and took a 35-29 lead. Wrenn answered with a 3-pointer that started the Hornets on a 13-3 run to end the third quarter and give Hamilton a 42-38 edge.

'I hit that three and everybody else just followed along,' Wrenn said.

After the fourth-quarter technical gave the Hornets their six-point league, Lawrence battled to within 54-52 with 1:33 remaining.

Wrenn then hit a driving layup and Garcia came up with a steal, resulting in him making two free throws. Glover got a putback to cut it to 58-54 with 19 seconds left, and Lawrence regained possession by tying up Garcia.

After a missed shot, Glover got the rebound, but Snead alertly knocked the ball from his hands. Hamilton got the ball to Garcia, who drained two final foul shots. The Hornets finished 17-for-18 from the line.

'We just had to stay composed, just stay within ourselves,' Simmons said. 'We just had to play hard and take our time to do what we had to do.'